Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gifts on a Shoestring Budget

Oh, the holiday season with its myriad of gift-giving. Often, shopping for the holidays requires sticking to a strict budget, which sometimes makes finding the right gift for someone even more of a challenge. All the websites and magazines tell us to make our own gifts to cut down on costs, but there are plenty of us who don't have the skills to pull this off. Sometimes going to a craft fair at your church or your school helps keep costs down while giving unique hand-crafted gifts. Ask around your circle of friends and family to find an event close to you. Also consider the Nob Hill Shop and Stroll on Saturday, December 8th and the Old Town Holiday Stroll on Friday, December 7th to support local merchants! You can also stop by the Friends for the Public Library Book Sale on Saturday, December 8th, the Main Library Bookstore and seek out inexpensive books for gift giving, or check out our Fiction-to-Go shelves at certain branch libraries. If picking out a book for someone feels like a daunting task use our booklists to give you some ideas of what to get the bookworm in your life.

Of course, if you are the crafty type, the library carries plenty of books to help you out with ideas or instructions. Search the subject Gifts in our catalog, or take a look at the short list below to get you started:

Sometimes gift wrapping and making cards can be fun, sometimes it can be a chore. Here are some books that will give you some creative gift wrapping and card making ideas. They are full of beautiful photographs which are fun to look at, even if the gift wrapping is more effort than it's worth.